A timely intervention from the Science teacher

My daughter Scarlett's science teacher "who is very strict" (according to Scarlett) announced to the Year 8 classroom what the student homework for the Easter school holidays would entail. The students grimaced and held their breath in anticipation of what fate the hard task master would deal them.

“I want you all to hug a tree!” she demanded. Silence fell upon the room. That was it. 

Scarlett (13 yrs old) and her class mates were a little dumbfounded. Was this a trick? Is there a catch? But no it wasn’t a trick and there was no catch. It was simply a very humanistic, wise and timely piece of homework that her teacher had instructed. This was the Science teacher's intervention to connect kids back with nature.

Scarlett was inspired and along with my youngest daughter Emilie, we decided to turn this into a “mindfully hug a tree” challenge. For each day of the first week of school holidays we would commit to finding the time and place to mindfully invest our energy, heart and soul into hugging beautiful trees. 

We found ourselves in reserves and parks near and far including Redwood Forest and the stunningly beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne's CBD. There was only one day that we specifically set out on a mission to find trees. The rest of our experience landed within our regular day and routine. Just take a look....there are trees all around us after all!

The discussions with my daughters each day touched on the oxygen trees create, how they can make you feel at peace and how they calm the soul, the protection and homes that they provide our wildlife, the shade and shelter we get from them, their beauty, uniqueness and the diversity of colour and shape they create in the natural landscape.

There is so much evidence out there that being in nature and around trees is beneficial to our wellbeing. I have included a few links to articles below. At Benny Button we know that people are 64% more likely to be satisfied with their contribution they are making in work and life when they have a high level of wellbeing. So my take on this is that hugging trees is good for wellbeing and performance.

Thank you to the school Science teacher for inspiring a week of mindful tree hugging that will now turn into a wellbeing and performance ritual for me and my family. When will you do yourself and your organisation a favour by taking a mindful step into nature?